Andros Island is the largest of the Bahamas with an area of 2,300 square miles. It is about 140 miles southeast of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The state of Delaware is 2,491 square miles and has a population of a bit more than 900,000. The population of Andros is 8,000 and change.

With so few inhabitants, there is not a single big box store or mall on the island. No fast food restaurants or tourist traps mar the landscape. The average high temperature in January — the month I fish there — is 77 degrees.

Visitors from the United States visit Andros for one reason: To fish.

I fish with my guide, Dion. He can spot more fish than I can and we can motor around if needed. Our quarry is bonefish.

Bonefish are not especially big. The world record on a fly rod is 15 pounds, 6 ounces. The sport comes in sight fishing in shallow, beautiful water. And the fish are fast.

Very fast.

Catching my first bonefish in 2004 went like this.

“Bone! 10 o’clock, 30 feet. Heading left,” Dion said.

I cast.

“Pick it up, go right five feet.”

I picked it up and moved five feet.

“That’s left,” Dion said.

Dion told me to strip – to pull the line an arm’s length, moving the fly to get the fish’s attention. He told me strip again, to persuade the fish his prey was getting away.

“Long strip,” Dion instructed when the fish ate my fly.

I had just a heartbeat to glance at my line, making sure it wasn’t wrapped around the reel. The fish moved.

Finally, I understood why I was armed with nine feet of an eight-weight graphite fly rod, $800 worth of machined aluminum and 250 yards of backing to subdue three-pound fish. I was hooked.

The bonefish in the photo (caught in 2009) weighed 11 pounds, 12 ounces. Call it 12 pounds – any fisherman would. A bonefish over 10 pounds is exceptional. I was exceptionally happy.

The temperature was 80 degrees when we left Fort Lauderdale for Denver. There was black ice and a ground blizzard between Cheyenne and Wheatland. Welcome home.

Fish stories and other outdoor tales

All outdoorsy types have their fish stories, even when they aren’t about fish. They are stories that take on a life of their own -- about the one that got away, the pup scaring up its first bird and the time you lost your keys in the backcountry. “Fish Stories” is a place for readers to share their outdoor stories with other readers. Keep yours under 400 words, and photos are encouraged. Email stories to Christine.Peterson@trib.com. We will publish them here as we get them.

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(1) comment

Bonefish should never, ever, ever be held up with a Boga grip. That has been shown to harm the fish, often leading to their death. It is a switch for freshwater angler to fish for species like bonefish. You release a trout, it hunkers down for a bit and then gets on with business. You have a bonefish out of the water, held up like this, snap some photos and when you release the fish it doesn't hunker down. It gets eaten by a shark or barracuda. Check out the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust for tips on how best to handle bonefish.

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